By Any Means
by liketoimagine
Summary: The League had already been going through a rough patch accompanied by several difficulties in keeping the team together and alive. And now, when it seemed like things couldn't get much worse, they have another problem on their plates. A strange warrior who calls herself Diana. What does this mean for the already unstable state of the Justice League and its members. SM/WW
1. Chapter 1

Superman was in the monitor womb, his back resting on the computer panels as Batman was working productively beside him.

Superman has been working on watchtower duty every second he got nowadays as being Clark Kent has become frustrating for him. He has had a crush on Louis Lane, his work colleague, for years and now she finally responded to him. Well not him as in Clark Kent, but Superman; she was frustratingly only interested in Superman. At times that's what he loved best about Clark Kent, he could blend. Clark Kent was the everyday person, the simpleton and it presented difficulties and joys Superman would never get to experience.

But currently he was getting frustrated with always having to hide, to always play down one or another part of himself. There were so many secrets he was starting to prefer silence because he did not want to let any secret slip. He was tired of challenging himself, tired of taking the hard way and making all the hard decisions. And now here he was, plagued by an uncharacteristically bitter perception of his life, sitting for hours on end watching a computer screen. Batman was the only one close enough to Superman to perceive this change, and he unsympathetically labeled it "brooding".

Clark responded to the situation the only way he knew how, he buried himself in his work. Currently, he was looking out over Earth from the windows of the monitor womb as absentmindedly as a man who hears everything can get.

"_Earth looks so peaceful from here__._" he thought.

"Kent," Batman called for his attention gruffly, "for a man who can hear everything you seem to have listening issues."

Turning to face Batman, Superman said, "Sorry. I'm tired; I'm fairly sure I have not been able to sleep in days. You think it could be a side effect of this disturbance you're investigating?" Superman rubbed his eyes.

"That's a possibility. You and magic don't mix. I'll keep it in mind." Batman was feeling the stress of this predicament as well and, though he would never admit it, he wanted a break.

Batman and the league have been plagued by a disturbance in the world of magic. The list of symptoms is nearly never ending. Some of the league magicians experienced sleepless nights filled with nightmares, periodic stroke like convulsions, hallucinations, and the majority had to be restrained due to their violent spasms and incoherent babbling. Nonetheless, morale on the league has been at an all time low as the infirmary fills with friends and colleagues rendered into psychotic monsters.

For the most part all of the non-affected league magicians swore off using magic just to be safe, but in some cases even that wasn't enough.

Even worse, no one has been able to pinpoint this magical disturbance. The symptoms so wide spread and the victims so incapable of providing new information, no one had the slightest clue of what was occurring.

"But if it's affecting you Clark, this is a lot bigger than we thought." Batman continued typing in commands on the monitor.

"And no one has been able to find where it's coming from, who it's coming from, or why it is happening?" Superman asked.

"Anyone who has tried ends up like the ones in the infirmary. All we know is the alleged first case happened when Doctor Fate was suddenly trapped in some kind of coma after using a spell to make some thief speak the truth."

"And can Zatanna try to get to the root of this problem?"

"Are we willing to take the risk we may lose one of the only magicians we have left?" Batman asked.

"I'm sure _that's_ the reason why." Clark laughed at his jab at the Dark Knight.

"That _is_ the reason why. If you are not going to help then leave." Batman turned back to the screen typing and compiling any information he had on the disturbance.

"Yeah sorry, you are right. To be honest, I' m not going to be much help here. I'm going to try and see if I can get some sleep up here."

"Keep me updated on the situation."

"Sounds fair. And, Bruce, it's a hard time for everyone, but you get some rest too." Superman said as he pushed off the monitor board.

Batman nodded but continued his work anyway.

Superman sighed as he started to walk away from the monitor womb towards his room on the watchtower. It hasn't been used in ages, but he faintly remembered there were a bed and some clothes he kept in case of emergency. He decided he would stop by the infirmary and see if they needed any help before he went to his room.

In the second he took his first step, a blinding white flash went off. It was too bright for Clark's eyes, and he had been within feet of the sun. After the flash died down Clark could make out the silhouette of a woman. He moved some tentative steps closer to get a better look of whatever had infiltrated the watchtower.

She wore some kind of armor. It had an eagle crest on the bodice. The whole ensemble seemed like something out of a movie; she wore metallic cuffs on her arms and a shining silver tiara. The rope on her side seemed to shine which Clark thought was strange.

Batman's face did not allow any of his emotions to shine through, but the coppery tinge of panic started to creep in. His eyes were taking too long to adjust to the vicious flash, and he still could not make out the scene. Desperate for any information, Bruce managed to type commands into the monitor based off of memory; he needed to figure out how someone could infiltrate the innumerable amount of security levels he personally placed and not trigger any single one of them. Magic came to mind.

"_What the hell_" Clark thought.

"Who are you and why are you here?" Superman was trying to sound calm and assertive but not overtly aggressive.

She was collapsed on the floor and seemed stunned by the light herself. This could not be some well planned out scheme; the uncertainty with which she looked around was an obvious sign of that. She looked too dazed and unsure. He considered helping her get up, but decided against it.

"Hera, ópou eímai , prépei na eímai sto spíti ."

"What language is that?" Superman asked Batman. Clark knew Batman was still adjusting to the bright light but hoped his friend could end this conflict before it elevated. Maybe if he could speak to her, this could end peacefully.

"The computer isn't picking it up." Batman, who could now see better, furiously typed commands into the central computer, "Our systems are not showing any signs of a security breach; this woman is dangerous. We need to get her subdued before anything bad happens.

"Don't call others yet, I think that will make things worse at the moment." Clark said knowing what Bruce was thinking of doing next. "Let's see how this plays out."

In heavily accented and somewhat slurred English the woman says, "I will be subdued by no man."

With a speed Batman has only seen in Superman, she flew at him knocking him into the glass. Clark was stunned by the force he was hit with. He had not felt anything that powerful since Darkseid. The glass was very thick, Batman had seen to that, but it couldn't last that kind of force for too long.

The woman reaches both of her hands around Superman's neck and pressed him against the glass. Her eyes darted side to side as she tried to take in her surroundings.

Clark attempted to pry her hands from his neck, but he was surprised to learn that he could not. The lady's eyes expressed shock at Superman's strength as well. It was almost as if she did not expect his strength, did she not know who he was?

"You're strong." He mutters through clenched teeth.

Strangely, Clark couldn't get his mind off of how beautiful she was. She had flawless skin, and her hair smelled like jasmine, and even as her hand was trying to choke him, her icy blue eyes still looked so beautiful. It reminded him of steel, strong and powerful. Any fear he had seen in her was gone. Her eyes looked calm and determined. She was quite a feat, her height rivaled Superman's, and every inch of her was perfectly sculpted. He almost felt guilty, here a woman was trying to kill him and all he could think about was her beauty.

"_Must be the sleep deprivation_" he thought, "_or the lack of oxygen, yeah probably that__._"

Her response to his comment was a simple, "I know."

Batman shoots her with every sedative he had on him, and within a split second she turned to deflect them all with her bracelets. However, it distracted her long enough for Clark to manage to wrench her hand off of his neck.

"Teleport us to Kansas!" Superman screamed as he managed to wrap his hands around her and keep her somewhat contained.

"Your family—"

"Well, this is obviously not playing out well—umph—what is she? She can't be human!" Clark exclaimed as he managed to wrestle her on the teleporting pad. Her constant kicks and punches were leaving bruises and cuts all over him, "Teleport us NOW!"

Clark felt the familiar sensation of teleporting and then appeared in a field inside of Kansas. It was the first place he could think of where there was nothing she could hurt for miles in all directions. They second they appeared in the field she swung her head backwards and it crashed into Superman's face. He fell backwards, tumbling against the soil. Once he regained his bearings, he felt a stream of blood oozing from his face he came to the conclusion she broke his nose. By this time the stranger had shot off into the sky, and was already incredibly far away.

"Super strength, magical bracelets, flying—and super speed. Of course." Clark muttered under his breath as he shot off after her.

Midflight he called in Batman using his communicator device, "Send backup just in case."

"Already did, it's Lantern, he's catching up with you guys." There was a pause and then, "Clark, you have to do what you have to do to keep people safe."

Superman didn't reply.

Within a few seconds Clark started to get very nervous, he was right behind her but she was better at flying. On several occasions he was inches away from grabbing her and the second he thought he had her, she shot straight down or to the side and he missed her.

"I don't want to hurt you. You need to understand that you can hurt people if I let you go!" He was screaming as he chased after her. She briefly paused to turn and look at him, shook her head and said, "You won't understand." Her frantic flight continued.

"Understand what?" He paused hoping for an answer but there was none. "You need to trust me! If you keep running I am going to have to make you stop, just talk to me!"

Clark was starting to get nervous as he counted the miles in his head. He was now a few miles from his mother's farm and the town. Her speed was incredible.

She was nervous too, Clark could tell. Her body and organs were very human, but something was in her blood that he has never seen before. It was strange, he wanted to believe she was human but everything about her was so surreal, he had a hard time believing himself. Nonetheless, her body reacted to stress the way the normal human did, her heart was beating fast and irregularly. He saw right through her faked calm composure, she was nervous.

And that is why Clark could not get himself to hurt her. Call him optimistic or naïve; he wanted to believe she was just scared. That is what made him Superman after all; he saw the best in people. But now, a mere mile away from his own farm, he knew he had to stop her whether she was malicious or not.

"I'm sorry" he muttered as he shot lasers from his eyes. She wasn't expecting it, but she turned and managed to block one laser with her bracelet, but the other left a burn streak up her leg.

Her face scrunched in pain but she tried to keep flying. She even sped up.

"_She's tough__.__" _Clark thought, but at seeing his mother's house a few feet away he thought, "_Ma is in the barn and we are headed for the house so it's good so far. I just need to get her to fly over Smallville__.__"_

Suddenly, the woman lost her bearings and went spiraling downwards and, to Clark's dismay, smashed through his family's tractor. Though hurt, she shot out of the left side of it and continued on her way. Clark could see her struggling to stay flying. She was significantly slower and he closed the distance between them. The burn he caused looked raw and painful and he did not think the tractor crash made it feel any better. She would have to stop eventually, as long as she stayed away from the people, he could tire her out.

Looking behind her shoulder, she grew panicky. Using whatever energy she had left in her she made an attempt to speed away, but she lost sight of what was in front of her for a moment and crashed straight through the barn.


	2. Chapter 2

Pieces of wood exploded everywhere and a huge gaping hole was left in the wall. Superman saw the floor peeling back as her body slid against the floor and stopped as it hit the back wall of the barn.

Through the sound of creaky and collapsing wood, Clark heard a sharp squeal from his mom's dog. He became irrationally angry, and stormed into the barn his eyes glowing red. This stranger had hurt his family, his dog. There was little else that could incite this level of rage in him.

He flew through the hole she left in the wall and was getting ready to do whatever it took to subdue her. In the back of his mind, he thought about Bruce's words, _"do what you have to do to keep people safe"_.

She was dangerous, he knew that, but deep in his heart, he didn't want to believe she actually hurt anything. But if anything Bruce was realistic, and of course Clark knew that.

He was in awe at how the barn did not completely collapse at this point. It was very old and Clark had good intentions of rebuilding it for his mother, but it managed to make its way on the superman "I Wish I Had Time to Do List".

Upon entering the barn Clark saw the woman frantically pulling huge pieces of wood out of a pile. He used his x-ray vision and determined his mother's dog was under there. Lassie was a lucky dog, the wood was inches from impaling her. Thank god Lassie kept calm and was staying low to the ground.

When he walked in, the lady sped up her work, but she still looked calm and determined. How could she stay so unchanging? She was pulling wood quickly out of the pile. She herself could barely stand, but she had an admirable sense of determination.

When she saw Superman walking towards her she told him to stay back, but then continued her attempt to help the dog out. It was impressive to say the least; she was plucking off heavy pieces of wood like they were feathers.

"Stay away from her." Clark was talking to his mother who was standing inches from the mystery woman.

"Lassie is trapped under the wood Clark. We need to get her out!"

"I know, just wait, please. Lassie will be fine." Clark was pleading with his mother. He knew how much that dog meant to her, especially after his father passed. It hurt his heart to see his mother like this.

"Did you hurt the dog?" He directed his question at the woman, he tried not to sound angry, but his voice shook.

"Not directly. The building was collapsing and it was trapped. Why? You think me capable of such spite?" She was staring daggers at him, and her words slurred in anger as she spoke.

At the moment, Clark did not have a good answer so dropped the topic and asked, "Can I help? You need to trust me; I don't have any reason to hurt you. I just want to help the dog; no tricks."

She gave no response to him, but right before Clark was about to reiterate the question, Lassie managed to wiggle free and made a bee line for his mother.

Suddenly, Clark heard the ceilings give the slightest creak; he knew the barn was going to collapse. His heart was racing and he pulled his mother and dog close to him to protect them from the building collapse. He heard his mother screaming but the cacophony of the falling wood and ceiling tiles made his head hurt.

It was his first instinct, but not hers.

She flew above them, using her bracelets to blast the wood into smithereens. Clark prepared himself to be showered with heavy wood pieces, but all he felt was the occasional shard. Once the barn was done collapsing Clark stepped back and asked his family how they were.

"Sorry, I'll rebuild this again. It was old anyway." He hugged his mother, luckily she wasn't too shaken up.

"Of course." His mother offered a small smile.

The woman was standing beside them looking relieved to see that the people were okay. She started to hover in the air as if planning to leave again.

"If you try to get away, you know I have to chase you right?" Clark didn't think he could have ever sounded more desperate.

Her eyes looked into his, "You do not have to. Mules have to do what told, humans do not."

Her voice was quiet with a relatively soft accent. She had mastered a certain snarky aspect to her voice. It was a level of mastery Clark had only heard from the Dark Knight.

"Right now, I do. That's because it is my job to keep this planet safe. You understand that I can't let you go right now confident that you will not hurt people."

She crossed her arms, "I hold no malice against your people. I only have the goal of helping mine."

Superman raised an eyebrow, "Your people?"

As if hesitating to reveal anything she says, "The Amazons—of Themysicara"

"Amazons? The female warrior race?" He laughed, "That's a myt—" Clark immediately regretted saying that aloud. He looked her up and down and from the rope and sharp sword to the metal tiara, the "mythical" female warrior idea made a lot more sense.

"Men will believe what they want to believe." The snark in her voice was vicious and powerful.

"Sorry if that offended you, I apologize. But, my friend is going to be here in a moment and we just want to take you somewhere away from people and ask you few questions. Then we can let you go, we have a lot of resources. We can help you find the means to help your people."

She was silent for a second. Her eyes were looking over the destruction of the barn, she had a pained expression.

She says, "Why should I trust you?"

Clark rubbed his hand across the back of his neck, "I trusted you with my mother. We both know you can hurt her if you wanted, but I have faith in you. If I can trust you, you can trust me."

His mother was making her way over to rubble back into her house. She says over her shoulder, "He's a good kid, if he tries anything dumb beat him for me."

"This woman is your mother?" She smiles and nods her head in the direction of his mom.

"Yes. Can you not tell people that? It's kind of a secret." Clark says.

She looked puzzled but did not question him, "If you try anything faintly suspicious, I promise I won't run this time."

"We won't try anything, I promise. By the way, the people of this planet call me Superman but I was born with the name Kal-El. Though we did not meet under the best circumstances, I hope we work something out." He offered a smile.

To his relief she smirked back. And yet again her reply was simple, "Diana."


	3. Chapter 3

Diana was confused, frustrated, and most of all tired. Her leg was throbbing and she was worried it may be fractured. Of course, she would make it through; she has been through much worse. In comparison to the events of the past months, the burn scar down her leg was little more than a scratch. She knew it would heal quickly anyway.

Kal-El led her from the wreckage of the barn back towards the spot they first landed. On the way there she saw the machine she utterly obliterated and rows of crops that had been flattened by their fighting. She felt guilty, simple as that. And once she told these men the truth, she hoped that they would just let her go. Otherwise, there would be a bigger fight, and she knew a lot more damage would occur.

Damage was not her goal. She swore to herself that destruction would never be something she strived for, but there was always such a delicate balance to be kept. Strong but not violent, focused but not obsessed, definite but not hasty. The balances were tipping and Diana could feel it inside of her. Maybe four months ago she would never do anything to cause the balances to shift the slightest.

The decisions of recent days did not set easy with Diana, but she had to weigh her options; she had to make decisions she never thought possible even in her worst nightmares.

They had just passed the tractor when Diana spotted a green blur coming from the distance. She straightened herself in the air and hovered in her spot in an attempt to settle the world around her and make out the figure. The light of the sun shined in her eyes and bore down on her head. She assumed he was the "friend" Superman made reference to. "Kal-El" said he trusted her, but he still needed this other man just in case she tried anything. She knew the reason why she needed to be monitored, the barn was plenty evidence of that. She would do the same, probably more, were she in his place. It was still surreal for Diana to realize she was the criminal. Currently, especially in the eyes of the dark clothed one from the space tower, she was the enemy.

"That's my friend I was talking about. People call him Green Lantern." Clark stated as he hovered beside her.

"And he protects the planet as you do." Diana said.

It was more of a statement than a question which Clark made a mental note of. She grew up on this island, Themyscria, so how did she come in contact with Lantern?

He had a lot of questions about her, but he just added them to a mental list hoping to go over it with Bruce.

Nonetheless, Clark still felt the need to reply to her, "Yes, he does protect this planet and several other ones in this galaxy."

"That level of responsibility should be crippling."

Clark smiled, "Don't know if I'd say that."

He thought, _"If anything's going to cripple him, it's going to be you when he starts being flirty. Probably not the best person for this mission now that I think about it."_

As Lantern flew closer to them; he laughed and said, "How much trouble did Superman get in for that?" He motioned to the wreckage that was once the family barn.

"I think the nice lady there let me off easy." Clark laughed trying to keep the mood light.

"Yeah, the other person didn't though, your face is bleeding big guy." Hal said.

"Right, sorry. It's broken but it'll be fixed soon." Clark wiped the blood from his nose.

"I apologize for causing you harm. I was just trying to escape." Diana said apologetically.

"Well the apology is reciprocated." He sighed as he pointed to the scar on her leg. "I was trying to stop you from going into town."

Their exchange confused Diana. She had destroyed his home, nearly killed his dog, and broke his nose and he still held no malice against her. There was something about him that she had never quite experienced before. For someone who holds the weight of the world, he was quite a simple person. Diana respected that about him. When she looked into his eyes, he held a kind of hope that she has not seen in years. She obstinately won't even admit it to herself, but just being around him brought out the hope Diana lost a grip on.

"Wait, so where is the watch tower infiltrator?"

"Lantern, Diana. She's from an island called Themyscria." Clark rubbed his hands on the back of his neck nervously.

He turned to face Diana, "Name is Hal—" He stopped midsentence and got a good look at her. He turned to face Superman.

"Bats told me I was helping you talk sense into someone who single handedly broke all the league's defense barriers to infiltrate the watchtower. Please, please tell me it's not her."

"I believe I am the one you are making reference to Hal. Am I correct, Kal-El?" Diana asked.

"Kal-El" Lantern exclaimed mocking Clark, "And here we all were calling you Boy Scout!"

Superman gave Hal a look, and changed the topic as he addressed Diana. "That depends, were you the one that did all of that?"

Diana, looked back at the wreckage for a brief moment, "Not exactly", she brushed her hair from her face as the wind tussled it, "It is not exactly that simple. Of course I vowed to tell the truth in exchange for my release. I do not go back on vows I make, but it is—" She abruptly paused. "Is there a reason your eyes linger on me Green Lantern?"

He raised his eyebrows and looked her over her body before saying, "No— no reason." A deadly silence hung in the air as Diana crossed her arms and looked at Lantern quizzically.

"_Men are strange."_ she thought.

"Her English is kind of accented. Where is that island again?" Hal asked.

"I don't know—" Clark started

Diana cut in, "It's concealed by magic, protected from men and the outside world. It is called Themyscria."

"Never heard of it sweetheart, I would know if it existed."

"Do you deny my existence?" Hal was rubbing her the wrong way, and she couldn't decide if he was doing it purposefully. Her temper was one of her biggest foibles, but she never let it drastically affect her thinking.

"Ooh, 'Kal-El', you really want a hot temper like that on a metal thing in space?" Lantern said.

Diana calmed her tone, "I have better control of my anger, than you do of your mouth." And then to Superman she says, "Should we be getting to the tower so I can be questioned?"

Clark had to try to hide his laughter; it was not that he didn't understand the danger of this woman or of this conflict. It was the matter of Hal's ego being torn down that Clark found so comical. For someone like Clark, everyday is brimming with serious, dark situations, so he takes all the smiles, the laughs, and good memories he can.

He stepped between them saying, "Yes, we should get going." He shot into the air giving them no more time to talk. Diana broke her stare with Hal and followed suit.

Lantern stayed hovering for a few more seconds looking at the damage she and Superman had caused. He said, "Seriously, you _really_ think it's a good idea to take her back to the watchtower?" He spoke quietly knowing only Superman would hear.

"If I suggested an unfamiliar place, she would probably back out. Guess we will find out soon enough how bad or good it is." Clark replied under his breath talking to himself.

He looked back at Diana flying behind him. Lantern was following further back behind Diana. Diana still looked like she was in pain, but the leg almost looked as if it was healing by itself. So Clark made a mental note to add "impossibly fast healing" to the list of her powers.

Being a reporter, Clark was a master of the "gut-feeling", and his gut told him this was not going to end quickly or easily. There was something about her that Clark couldn't put his finger on. For a man who makes a living off of writing words, he found himself unable to describe the feeling. Anxious was wrong, foreboding was wrong, excited was wrong. Maybe it was a mix of them, or maybe it was none of them.

He just knew whatever she was; whatever this was, it was going to change things.

A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews/ favs/ etc. I am by no means a professional writer and this is my first story. I write this story to relax and have fun. I figured if I posted it here there had to be at least_ one_ person who would enjoy reading it. I'm all about spreading the love for these characters. So thanks once again!


	4. Chapter 4

The heroes had just teleported up to the watchtower. Diana was intrigued by the function of the teleporters. She had never experienced that kind of device at work. It left a weird feeling in her stomach but it did not seem the phase the other two men at all. This is perhaps the longest time she has spent in Man's World but in all her previous experiences she has never seen this extraordinary abundance of technology.

She was not given much time to ponder the technology as she was immediately stunned at the transformation from the solemn room she saw at first arrival to the bustling room she now saw. The watchtower was now alive with movement. People were teleporting in and out, some watched the screens, and others seemed to be organizing groups. The flurry of activity looked very impressive, and the excited convergence of dozens of voices bounced off the walls and gave the tower a warm, conversational feeling with an undertone of urgency.

Her appearance had an immediate effect. As she was led off the teleporter pad people cast her side glances and the chatter became noticeably lighter as it was replaced with sharp whispers.

"Follow close to me and we won't have any problems." Hal said. Superman stood on the other side of her.

Diana held herself tall as eyes bore on her as she whispered, "I was not aware there were such a large number of people on this tower."

"Yeah, we have expanded recently." Superman's laconic response was an effect of him being distracted by all the excited whispers of others surrounding them.

_Who is she? Did they bring someone dangerous up here? I think I heard Batman talk about her earlier. Is she the girl you saw in the fight on the tower? Superman looks beat up, doesn't he?_

Unbeknownst to Superman the whispers were heard by Diana as well and she felt like a criminal. Then she reached the solemn conclusion that she was a criminal in their eyes. She attacked a man who seemed very renown amongst their ranks and tore down his mother's shed. What was she expecting would come of her actions? The way events were going to play out seemed so obvious to her now, and she finally understood the phrase, "hindsight is twenty-twenty".

To prevent someone getting bold enough to ask him a question he was not ready for, Superman sped up the pace and the other two followed his lead.

Within a few testing minutes the three of them reached the holding cells in the bottom of the watchtower. The cells were a recent addition, and they were made to contain Superman, as he recently noticed (to great irony) that most things were. He figured it could hold Diana as well.

"Thanks Hal, I think Batman and I got it from here." Superman sighed tiredly. He never did get a chance to try and sleep.

"Great, there was a really bad flood which explains all the hustle going on in the main floor. Cyborg says they need all hands they can get, so try to get in there after this. I'm going to head out there right now."

"Alright keep me updated." Superman turned the main channels on his communication device on so that he kept getting the flood updates.

The device at the door of the cell opened in response to Superman's hand print in combination with his JL code. The bars of the cell slid upwards and he led Diana in. It was a plain cell with a table and three chairs stuck to the ground; it was made for the purpose of interrogations. This was the first time Superman had even been in the room and even he looked around it with a sense of wonder. Filled with all kinds of lights and structures, he silently pondered what the uses of the room may be.

After walking into the room Clark took a few seconds observing her child-like observations of the room. She didn't seem to feel Clark's eyes on her. She was absorbed in the wonders of the room, running her fingers along a circuit board above her head curiously.

Though for a second Clark forgot how dangerous Diana was, he forced himself to accept the reality of the situation. He found it humorous how she could go from a fierce warrior to this woman he saw now in a matter of minutes, and it intrigued him further.

He said, "I'll be back soon with the other man and then we will ask you a few questions." Clark said to her as he forced himself to leave.

His words snapped Diana out of her exploration and she suddenly said, "Where is the flood? Who is it affecting?"

He turned to face her, "It has taken over all the farm land of Malaynkara. So it is mostly famers and their families. Wait, would you know where that is, Malaynkara?"

She giggled as if his question was absurd. "Yes, growing up on the island I had a lot of time to learn whatever I pleased. I like learning and hoped one day it would aid me if I ever journeyed to Man's World. That is how I speak English, as well. However, I fear my English was may be broken at times, I apologize."

"Man's World?"

"The world past the island." Diana sat down in one of the chairs but still held herself upright like royalty. Clark subconsciously straightened himself as well.

"They need your help, the families. You should help them first." She said seriously.

"I'm listening now; they don't need me at the moment." He pointed at his earpiece.

"I have never seen anything like that." She titled her body trying to see it. "What is it?"

He chuckled, "The earpiece? That's what I said when I first saw it. It's really an amazing piece of technology. This whole place is—," Superman heard Batman talking from the earpiece, "Hold on a second." He said to Diana.

Batman's gruff voice broke through all the other channels, "Superman, you took her to holding cell 2A right?"

"Yes. How did you know—"

"Meet me at the panels in the hall outside 2A. I've come across some things about her."

"How?"

"Turns out she's been to the United Kingdom before." Batman said through gritted teeth, frustrated, "The government did a good job of hiding this one. See me outside."

"Like I said, I'll be back soon." Superman said to Diana. She nodded her head and stood as she crossed her arms while looking around the cell solemnly.

Once he left the cell she sighed and sadly whispered, "Oh gods forgive me for the trouble I am causing them. For all the trouble I've caused." The words were only for her ears but Superman eavesdropped on them and hurt for the defeat he heard in her voice. He could relate to the feeling though, one thing he knew for sure is he what feeling defeated was like.

The doors of the cell slid upwards as Superman entered his code and left the room. Once he left the cell Diana sighed and sadly whispered, "Oh gods forgive me for the trouble I am causing them. For all the trouble I've caused." The words were only for her ears but Superman eavesdropped on them and hurt for the defeat he heard in her voice. He could relate to the feeling though, one thing he knew for sure is he what feeling defeated was like.

After a short pause Clark walked down the hall corridor to the console in the middle of the hallway. There Batman was leaning back on the chair looking very contemplative.

"What did you find?" Superman looked up at the screen at a blurry imagine of what seemed to be London.

"This was when Darkseid attacked. From what I can make out of this video, it looks like a small group of heavily armored women come out of nowhere and kill a lot of the bad guys." He paused on a frame of the video. "You have the better eyesight."

On the screen there was two armored women paused in mid stride. They looked tall in comparison to their surroundings, and the armor looked golden and red. The light bounced off of one of the women's shields so that it blinded the camera's already blurry view.

"Yeah, looks like her current armor. Though, I'm hoping that clip is not _all_ you have. It is still hard for me to make it out."

Bruce smirked, "Of course not." He pulled up another video of a man in an interrogation room. "This is Steve Trevor. Poster boy for America, but he was deployed in the United Kingdom on the day everything went south. He was one of the few who came in contact with these women and lived through all of Darkseids' attacks without going crazy."

The video started playing. Some kind of background fuzz noise started playing. It cut to a muscular man in army uniform stood on a side of a table. On the other side, a blonde, blue eyed solider sat slumped in a chair.

The interrogator angrily barks, "What do you know about these women." He slides a picture that can't be seen due to the video angle.

"With all due respect sir, I have told you all I know already." He muttered the words but kept confident eye contact with the interrogator.

The interrogator gets in the man's face and said with forced deliberation, "Let's try that again Trevor. What do you know about these women?"

"I told you, they appeared out of nowhere and then helped fight Darkseids' monsters. Then they left. For the last time, I don't know where. They were helpful and prevented a lot of death and left with no intention of harming anyone."

"Are you telling me you do not see a problem with warrior soldiers 'magically appearing' in the UK colonel?"

"Sir, all I am saying is that these people saved a lot of my men, and I do not see why we need to pursue people with such peaceful intentions."

"Okay, repeat how the one you call—what is it—Athena saved your precious life. Describe her."

"She looked perfectly human. She was tall and had black hair, blue eyes. She was kind and helpful, I'd say twenty at oldest."

"Describe what she did Trevor. Don't play dumb with me."

"As you know Darkseid had some kind of demon like monsters taking people and killing the others. One grabbed me and was about to lift off taking me with it and she took the monster into the air and killed it."

The interrogator said, "She beheaded with a sword Trevor. Knocked its head right off, right?"

Silence

The interrogator spit and said mockingly, "'Peaceful intent', tell me colonel, what would happen if these women decided to support some malicious objective."

There was a silence from Trevor's side again. He looked frustrated more than anything else.

"I _know_ you saw them leave. I _know_. Now you just need to tell us where they went. Tell us how, and you can get back to serving the country as an honorable man."

There was a heavy silence, but then Trevor stated with a crooked grin, "Wish I could tell ya. But I don't know."

The interrogator fell back in the chair and angrily threw papers from the table to the floor.

Batman cut the video at that point.

"He described her under the name of Athena."

Superman looked troubled, "She told me her name was Diana. Could it be someone else?"

"How many tall, black haired, blue eyed female warriors with the power to behead a monster do you know?"

"Well she lied to one of us. Do you think this solider—Steve was lying?"

"Somewhat, he constantly repeats the fact that they were peaceful, so I think that's truthful. But I think he knows where these women went."

"She told me she is from Themyscira, an island of female warriors. I think they call themselves the Amazons."

Batman displayed a look of recognition for a second. "That's actually really interesting. I know quite a bit about the mythology about the island. Heracles and his men raped and killed the Amazonian women. I believe the story says the Greek gods pitied the attacked women and then decided to give them the gift of immortality and a paradise protected by the gods personally."

Superman said, "Jesus, that puts a lot of the story together. She did not seem to hold men in high respect and guess having that kind of history with men is probably a good reason to."

"Did she tell you anything else important?" Batman asked as he absentmindedly tapped on the computer keyboard.

"Nothing that really stands out. But—oh god you're not going to like this part—I promised her we would let her go if she told us the truth in this interrogation."

"Why the hell would you say that Clark? We can't just let her go she broke your nose for god's sakes."

Clark wiped the blood from his nose again and murmured, "I keep forgetting about that."

"So she could tell us she knows all about the disturbance in magic we are experiencing and we just have to let her go? Yeah, that sounds like a great idea Clark." Batman said sarcastically.

"Is that what this is about? You think she is going to know all about magic?"

"Supposedly, her island is made and protected by _gods_, Greek gods, what do you think?"

"Even if she did, knocking her unconscious and forcing her to talk to us probably won't make her more inclined to help."

"The fact that she beat you up and tried to run away already shows us she's not 'inclined to help' Clark."

"Calm down, I have a plan." Clark stated. "When we were fighting she dropped this." He pulled a long golden rope from a pocket on the back of his suit. "She has to realize that she doesn't have it soon enough. Hopefully, I can convince her that she left it on the tower and then walk her around the place long enough to convince her to stay a bit longer. She sounds like she could use us for helping her as much as we could use her."

Batman sat quietly, thinking.

"I know it's not failsafe Bruce, but it's the best I could think of at the moment. I know it's probably not going to work. And I have no clue why I said that last part because that probably doesn't convince you I thought this out."

"You'd think country folk would have taught u not to make promises you can't keep." Bruce said grumpily. "Leave the lasso in one of the safes for now. We don't know what it does yet. Then meet me outside the cell she's in. I'm going to read up on Amazonian mythology until then."

"Yeah my folks tried to teach me a lot of stuff. As you said, for a man with super hearing I have a lot of trouble listening." Superman smiled trying to make light of the moment.

"This is going to be a train wreck Superman."

"Yeah. I agree." Superman walked off to put the lasso in a safe and Batman went back to work to find anything on Amazonians.


End file.
